Category Archives: Private

Commonwealth War Graves, Devon, Devonshire Regiment, Great War, history, illness, photography, Private, story, suicide, war

CWG: Private Ernest Carder

Leave a comment
Private Ernest Carder

Ernest James Triggs Carder was born early in 1880, the third of ten children to Samuel and Julia. Samuel was a shipwright from Devon and it was in Dartmouth that the family were born and raised.

Ernest – who went by his second name, James – found employment as a groom when he finished his schooling. In the spring of 1907, he married Elizabeth Seward. The couple wed in St Saviour’s Church, Dartmouth, setting up home in Gospel Lane,

James and Elizabeth went on to have three children – Samuel, Edward and Betty. The 1911 census found James working as a grocer’s waggoner, with his youngest brother, Frederick, living with them.

The times were trying for James and Elizabeth: both Samuel and Julia died in 1909; and Edward, their middle child, passed away in September 1911 at the age of just seven months. In the summer of 1915, Betty wad born, and the following April. James was called up to serve his King and Country.

On 14th June 1916, Private Carder was assigned to the Devonshire Regiment, and attached to the 3rd (Reserve) Battalion. The unit would remain on home soil throughout the conflict, but James was not to be part of it for long.

On 29th July 1916, Private Carder was found dead in a lavatory at the Granby Barracks in Devonport, with a razor near him. He had been complaining of eczema on his legs for a while, which made it difficult for him to sleep and had the knock-on effect of causing him headaches. His commanding officer, Corporal Stonelake, said that James “was not too quick, but was a man of good character and tried to do his best… each time he complained of his head he declined to see the doctor.” [Western Morning News: Tuesday 1st August 1916]

Private Carder had willingly enlisted, and appeared not to have any qualms about serving in the army. At the inquest following his death, the jury returned a verdict of taking his life while of unsound mind. He was 36 years of age.

Ernest James Triggs Carder was taken back to Paignton, where Elizabeth and the children were living. He was laid to rest in the town’s cemetery, having found peace at last.

Great War, war, photography, story, history, Commonwealth War Graves, illness, Private, Somerset, Somerset Light Infantry, Devon, Ireland, Northern Ireland

CWG: Private Henry Weakley

Leave a comment
Private Harry Weakley

Henry Weakley was born in 1885 in Bath, Somerset. The second of six children, he was the eldest son to James and Fanny. James was a cab driver, and Henry – who was better known as Harry – followed suit, becoming a coachman by the time of the 1901 census.

In 1910, Harry married a woman called Jennie. There is little information available about her, but the following year’s census return found the couple living with his family at 1 Cork Street, Bath, not far from the city’s Royal Crescent. The census had two records for that address, which confirmed the family’s living arrangements. Harry and Jennie had one room, while the rest of the Weakleys – James, Fanny, four of their children and a grandson – took up four rooms.

Harry was still employed as a coachman as this point, but, with war on the horizon, things were to change. Full details of his military service are lost in the mists of time, but it is clear that he enlisted in the Somerset Light Infantry, and that he was assigned to the 3rd (Reserve) Battalion.

Private Weakley’s unit was a territorial battalion and it remained on UK soil throughout the war. Initially based in Devonport, Devon, the 3rd moved to Londonderry, Northern Ireland, in November 1917, and Belfast the following April. Sadly, the little that remain of Harry’s records do not confirm where he served.

Harry was demobbed on 13th May 1919: his pension ledger notes that he had received gun shot wounds to his neck and back, although no further records identify when or how these injuries occurred. He returned home – 5 St George’s Buildings, Upper Bristol Road, Bath – and seems to have settled back into his pre-war life, although his health was still impacted.

Harry passed away at home on 27th March 1921. He was 36 years of age, and had died of heart failure. Despite his wartime injuries, the war office determined that his condition had been contracted after his army service: Jennie was denied a war pension.

Henry “Harry” Weakley was laid to rest in Bath’s sweeping Locksbrook Cemetery, not far from where his widow still lived.

Commonwealth War Graves, Dorsetshire Regiment, Great War, history, illness, Labour Corps, photography, Private, Somerset, Somerset Light Infantry, story, war

CWG: Private William Pollard

Leave a comment
Private William Pollard

William Pollard was born at the end of 1887, the youngest of seven children to John and Alice Pollard. Agricultural labourer John hailed from Hinton Charterhouse in Somerset, while his wife was from Southampton, Hampshire. The family were living in the village of Buckler’s Hard when William was born, but moved back to Somerset when he was just a toddler.

As with most of his siblings, William followed in his father’s footsteps when he completed his schooling. By the time of the 1911 census, only he and his older brother Thomas we still living in the family home: the two siblings were working as carters, while their father, now 61 years of age, was a general labourer.

Alice died in the summer of 1911, and would net get to see her youngest boy wed. On 11th April 1914, William married Augusta Loveless, a carpenter’s daughter from Bath. The couple were living in 2 Rossini Cottages, on Hedgemead Road, to the north of the city centre, and would go on to have two children, William Jr and Geoffrey.

When war was declared, William was called upon to play his part. He enlisted in the Somerset Light Infantry on 30th November 1915, but soon transferred over to the 5th (Service) Battalion of the Dorsetshire Regiment. Attached to the 673th Labour Company, while his unit served at Gallipoli and in France, there is no evidence that Private Pollard spent any time overseas.

William’s brother Thomas had also been called up. He joined the Somerset Light Infantry, and, as a Private, was attached to the 1st Battalion. His unit fought at the Somme, and Thomas was badly injured. He died of his wounds, and was laid to rest in the Puchevillers British Cemetery. He was 31 years of age.

In fact, William seems to have been dogged by ill health. Full service records have been lost to time, but he was medically discharged from the army on 12th September 1917.

John had died that February, at the age of 68 years old, and was laid to rest next to his wife in St John the Baptist Church, Hinton Charterhouse.

At this point, William’s trail goes cold. He returned to Bath, and spent at least some time in the city’s War Pensions Hospital. His condition warranted an operation, but he died of heart failure following the procedure on 12th December 1920. He was 33 years of age.

William Pollard was laid to rest in Bath’s sweeping Locksbrook Cemetery.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, illness, Kent, Lance Corporal, London, Middlesex, Middlesex Regiment, photography, Private, Somerset, story, war

CWG: Lance Corporal Ernest Pond

Leave a comment
Lance Corporal Ernest Pond

Ernest Charles Pond was born in the autumn of 1889 in Bath, Somerset, and was the younger of two children. His father, Charles, who worked as a wheelchairman, died in 1904, leaving his mother, Eliza, to raise the Ernest and his older sister, Daisy, on her own.

The 1911 census shows the determination the Pond family had in the wake of Charles’ death. Eliza had opened up a tea room in River Street Place, and was living above the business with Daisy and two servants. Daisy, meanwhile, was employed as a school teacher, something she had been doing for at least ten years. Ernest had left Bath, and headed for London: he had taken a room in a house in Tufnell Park, and was working as a furniture designer.

When war came to Europe, Ernest was called upon to play his part. Sadly, full details of his service have been lost to time, but it is clear that he had enlisted by the summer of 1918. He joined the Middlesex Regiment, and was assigned to the 6th (Reserve) Battalion. His unit formed part of the Thames and Medway Garrison, and there is no evidence that Ernest spent any time overseas.

By the autumn of 1918, Ernest had risen to the rank of Lance Corporal. With the war coming to an end, he fell ill, however, and was admitted to a military hospital in Chatham, Kent. Details of his illness are unclear, but it was severe enough that he succumbed to it: he passed away on 2nd November 1918, at the age of 28 years old.

The body of Ernest Charles Pond was taken back to Somerset for burial. He was laid to rest in Bath’s sweeping Locksbrook Cemetery, not far from where his father was buried.

Commonwealth War Graves, Dorset, Dorset Yeomanry, Great War, history, illness, killed in action, photography, Private, Somerset Light Infantry, story, unknown, war

CWG: Private William Biddlecombe

Leave a comment
Private William Biddlecombe

William Charles Biddlecombe was born in the spring of 1896, and was the third of nine children to Robert and Eliza. Both of his parents came from Hampshire, but their older children – William included – were born and raised in Poole, Dorset. Robert was a police constable there, but moved to the village of Longburton, near Sherborne, in around 1910.

According to the 1911 census, William was two of the household of eight to be employed, having found work as a gardener when he finished his schooling. Storm clouds were brewing across Europe, however, and he would be called upon to play his part.

Full service details have been lost to time, but it is clear that William had joined the Dorset Yeomanry (Queen’s Own) by the summer of 1915. He was attached to the 3rd/1st Battalion. The unit was based on home soil and there is no evidence that Private Biddlecombe saw any action overseas.

At this point, William’s trail goes cold and, in fact, the next record for him is that of his passing: “The funeral took place on Wednesday amid every token of respect and esteem of Trooper W Biddlecombe, of B Squadron (3/1st Dorset QO Yeomanry, son of PC and Mrs Biddlecombe of Westhill Police-station.” [Western Gazette – Friday 18 February 1916]

William Charles Biddlecombe died on 15th February 1916: he was 20 years of age. He was laid to rest in the peaceful graveyard of St James the Great Church in Longburton, close to where his grieving family lived.

William’s was not the only passing that his grieving mother would have to attend to. On 18th December, Robert was on duty, which had taken him into Sherborne. He was suddenly taken ill, and rushed to the town’s Yeatman Hospital, but died the same day. He las laid to rest close to his son in Longburton.

William’s younger brother, Robert, also served during the First World War. As a Private, he was attached to the 8th Battalion of the Somerset Light Infantry, and spent time fighting in Northern France. He was caught up and was killed in the Second Battle of Cambrai. He died on 9th October 1918, and was laid to rest in Naves Communal Cemetery Extension.

Cambridgeshire, Commonwealth War Graves, Devon, Great War, history, injury, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, photography, Private, Royal Fusiliers, story, war

CWG: Private Edward Vale

Leave a comment
Private Edward Vale

Edward Charles Vale was born in the spring of 1890, one of ten children to William and Ellen. Born in Cambridgeshire, William was employed by the local railways, becoming a signalman by the time of the 1901 census. The family were raised in Great Shelford, before moving to the Ely area in the early 1900s.

By the time of the 1911 census, Edward was the oldest of three of his siblings to still be living at home. The Vales were living at 12 Granta Terrace, Stapleford, and Edward was employed as a domestic gardener.

When war broke out, Edward volunteered to serve his country. Full service details are lost to time, but he had enlisted in the Royal Fusiliers by the spring of 1915. By June of that year, Private Vale was fighting in the Balkans.

At some point during the conflict, Edward transferred to the Oxfordshire & Buckinghamshire Light Infantry. He remained in the Easter Mediterranean, but was badly wounded in the summer of 1917.

Medically evacuated to Britain, Private Vale was admitted to the Voluntary Aid Detachment hospital that had been set up at Knightshayes Court, Devon. While details are unclear, Edward’s injuries were to prove too severe. He passed away on 9th October 1917, at the age of 27 years old.

Edward Charles Vale was laid to rest in the peaceful graveyard of St Thomas’ Church in Chevithorne, not far from the hospital in which he had passed.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, injury, photography, Private, Somerset, Somerset Light Infantry, story, Surrey, Sussex, war

CWG: Private Frederick China

Leave a comment
Private Frederick China

Frederick George China was born in Bath, Somerset, in the summer of 1885. He was the second of children to tailor George China and his wife, Gloucestershire-born Frances.

Frederick was working as a grocer’s assistant when his father died in 1906, at the age of 52. Determined to earn money for Frances and his three sisters, he left Somerset for work. The 1911 census recorded him as living in Worthing, West Sussex, boarding with the Vitler family. Percy was a baker’s assistant, and lived at 4, Tarring Road with his wife and two daughters. The census noted two visitors to the property, railway contractor Robert Puttock and his wife, Annie.

On 26th December 1912, Frederick married Lucy Hellier. Born in Midhurst, West Sussex, she was working as a confectioner’s shop assistant in Worthing’s Montague Street, boarding with the manager, Catherine Castle, her mother and her niece. The couple wed in Stanmer Parish Church, to the north of Brighton, which is where Lucy’s family were then living.

The newlyweds moved back to Bath, and Frederick took up a job as manager of the Widcombe branch of the Twerton Co-operative Society. Their only child, son Douglas, was born in February 1915.

By this point, war was raging across Europe, and Frederick stepped up to play his part. His full service details are no longer available, but he joined the Somerset Light Infantry in June 1916, and was assigned to the 7th Battalion.

He was in a battalion of the Somersets, who were heavily engaged at Langemarck, but he and his chum came safely through the severe fighting at that place. While returning, some time after, to the front trenches, he was knocked out by a shell, and received severe injuries. The spine was so badly hurt that, if he had survived, he would never have walked again.

[Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette – Saturday 29 September 1917]

Private China was medically evacuated to Britain for treatment, and he was admitted to King George’s Military Hospital in South London. Lucy and Frances travelled to Surrey to see him, and were with him when he passed, his wounds being too severe for him to survive. He passed away on 21st September 1917, at the age of 32 years of age.

The body of Frederick George China was aid to rest in Bath’s sweeping Locksbrook Cemetery, not far from where his father, George, was buried.

Private Frederick China
(from britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk)
Commonwealth War Graves, Gloucestershire Regiment, Great War, history, illness, photography, Private, Somerset, story, war

CWG: Private Percy Wall

Leave a comment
Private Percy Wall

Percy James Wall was born in the Somerset village of Kilmersden in the summer of 1880. The fifth of ten children, his parents were called Robert and Amelia. Robert was a cashier for a local colliery, but it seems that Percy did not follow into his father’s line of work.

The 1901 census found Percy working as a draper’s assistant for Jolly & Son’s in Bath. He was one of 27 boarders at the company’s lodgings on Milsom Street in the city centre. By 1911, he was still working for the same company, but as a draper’s clerk, and had moved to some new lodgings just to the north in Lansdown Road.

When war broke out, Percy stepped up to play his part. He enlisted in the Gloucestershire Regiment, although his full service records are no longer available. Private Wall was attached to the 1st/4th Battalion, and, by the autumn of 1916, he found himself caught up in fighting at the Ancre, part of the Battles of the Somme.

Percy was badly wounded, and evacuated to Britain for treatment. Full details are unclear, but his injuries were enough for him to medically discharged from the army. He was awarded the Silver War Badge – proof of his genuine discharge – but at this point his trail goes cold.

Percy struggled on with his injuries for a further two years. Hhe may have remained in hospital since his original injuries, but there are no records to corroborate this either way. At the start of 1919, he had been admitted to the Bath War Hospital, his family having also moved to the city by this point. He finally succumbed to his wounds, passing away on 3rd March 1919: he was 38 years of age.

Percy James Wall was laid to rest in the sprawling Locksbrook Cemetery, Bath, his pain finally eased.

Commonwealth War Graves, Cornwall, Devonshire Regiment, Great War, history, illness, Labour Corps, photography, Private, story, war

CWG: Private Charles Edwards

Leave a comment
Private Charles Edwards

Charles Henry Edwards was born in Padstow, Cornwall, in around 1888. One of three children, his parents were Charles and Elizabeth Edwards. Charles Sr was a farm labourer, and his son, who was one of four children, followed suit when he finished his schooling.

Charles Sr passed away in 1903: the next census record found Charles and two of his sisters living with Elizabeth. She was claiming parish relief, while her daughters were doing occasional char work to bring in a little more money.

Charles married a woman called Florence Dunn in the summer of 1911: little information is available for her, other than she was born in Devon, to Joseph and Maria. The couple set up home in Leadwell Street, Padstow, and went on to have four children: Lilian, Charles, Elsie and Alfred.

When war came to Europe, Charles stepped up to play his part. He enlisted 11th December 1915, by which point, he had found work as a cowman. He joined the Devonshire Regiment as a Private and spend the next fourteen months on home soil, moving across to the 5th Labour Company in February 1917.

At this point, Private Edwards was sent to France, and he spent most of that year overseas. He returned to Britain on 8th November, having contracted bronchitis while serving at Etaples. When he had recovered, Charles returned to duties, and was attached to the 650th Labour Coy.

Alfred, Charles and Florence’s youngest child, was born on 1st April 1918, but seemed to be a sickly boy. He passed away on 27th September, aged just six months, from a combination of influenza and bronchitis. Tragically, Charles was also unwell at this point, and he passed away just four days later from pneumonia. He was just 30 years of age.

Charles Henry Edwards was laid to rest in Padstow Cemetery. The report of his funeral does not mention Alfred, but it seems likely that father and son were buried together.

Florence lived on until 1964. She passed away in Bodmin, at the age of 78, and was laid to rest with her husband, reunited after more than four decades.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, illness, Middlesex, photography, Private, Royal Army Service Corps, Royal Defence Corps, Somerset, South Africa, story, Surrey, war

CWG: Private Henry Hutchings

Leave a comment
Private Henry Hutchings

The funeral of Mr Henry Hutchings, the Zulu war veteran, who died suddenly at Lower Weston on Tuesday, took place on Saturday afternoon…

The principal mourners were: Mrs Hutchings (widow), Sergt. Hutchings (son)(who wore the Mons ribbon and a Zulu war medal), Mr AE Adams (step-son), Mrs A Hutchings (daughter-in-law), Mr David Adams (step-son), and Mrs Emily Pickworth (step-daughter).

In order to attend the funeral Mr AE Adams had returned from France, where he has been carrying out work for a local firm.

Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette: Saturday 16th February 1918

Tracking down Henry Hutchings’ early life is a bit of a challenge, but working backwards through census records sheds some light onto his later years.

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission record states “Hutchings, Pte. Henry, 14475. Royal Defence Corps. 5th Feb., 1918. Age 59. Husband of Theresa Hutchings… Served in the Zulu War (1877-79) with Army Service Corps.”

The 1911 census recorded Henry and Theresa living in Shepherd’s Bush, Hammersmith. The document confirms they had been married for less than a year and, unusually, suggests both were twice married. Henry had been born in Notting Hill, and was employed as a smith’s hammerman. Theresa was born in Byfleet, Surrey, and the couple were living with Henry’s son, Henry Jr, and Theresa’s daughter, Alice.

Turn the clock back ten years, and the 1901 census tells a more confused story. Henry was living in Edmonton, Middlesex, where he was employed as a general labourer. Theresa is noted as being his wife – in contrast to the later census return – and the couple were living in Gilpin Crescent with Henry’s sons – Henry Jr, Edward and Sidney – and Theresa’s two children – Alice and Albert.

Going back a further ten years leads to a dead end. Neither Henry nor Theresa are readily identifiable on the 1891 census, even though both should have had their older children by that point.

An 1877 military record confirms Henry’s earlier time in the army. It was in July of that year that he enlisted, joining the Army Service Corps. At 18 years of age, he had been working as a carman, but a dedicated career is what he sought out. His record confirms he was 5ft 4ins (1.63m tall, with brown hair, blue eyes and a fresh complexion. Henry lists his next of kin as brother Robert Hutchings, although, again further family details are lost in the mists of time.

Private Hutchings spent twelve years in the army. After eighteen months on home soil, he was dispatched to South Africa, as the later newspaper report suggests, and spent a year overseas. He returned home in March 1880, and was stood down to reserve status until the end of his contract in July 1889.

The documentation uncovers details of Henry’s second period of time in the military. He enlisted in the Royal Defence Corps in September 1915, and was based at Alexandra Palace in London. His time there was limited, however, as he began to show signs of heart disease. By the following summer, Private Hutchings suffered from breathlessness and chest pains, to the point where he was medically discharged from service on 21st August 1916.

Henry and Theresa had moved to Somerset by January 1917, presumably for the cleaner air that their home in Bath would provide. This was not to be enough, however. Henry died a little over a year later, at the age of 59 years old.

Henry Hutchings was laid to rest in the sweeping grounds of Locksbrook Cemetery, Bath. He was to be reunited with Theresa when she passed away in 1926.